The TwinHeaded Serpent of the Normandy
by Cthulhu's Priest
Summary: He saw a saint in the making in Shepard's eyes, someone who would become a hero and a role model to the entire galaxy, he chuckles before extending his own hand, nothing like him at all.
1. Chapter 1

(A/N: Hello there! This is my first fan-fiction, and thus I desire criticism for my work, so please review! As one cannot improve without knowing their flaws. Also, just so know beforehand **Bold is Daedra speak** _Italics are thoughts._)

Twin-Headed Serpent of the Normandy

Krosis was a tired Argonian, a happy one, but tired, it had taken years of study and training but after all of that boredom he is now back at the level of thieving mastery he was back on his home planet. Now, with his skill and newly invented spells, he could sneak in and steal from all but the most paranoid holders of valuable objects, bulls-eyes he like to call them, without any prior planning or preparation, just the way he enjoys working. Taking a deep breath of exaggerated exhaustion he relaxes from his combat stance, and turns to examine the training course he built years ago for evidence of any mistake he may have made, an alarm blaring, a depressed pressure plate, a security bot attempting to kill him with holographic rounds, anything to suggest he needed further training. Nothing, simply an unscathed collection of well lit corridors, cameras and droids continuing their patrol as if nothing was amiss, the only evidence of Krosis' passing was an open display case. Where once it proudly held a large, if fake, blue diamond, now only holds an enchanted weight, placed with impossible precision so as not to set off the pressure sensor underneath. Said blue diamond now rested in the thief's pocket, a cliché objective, sure, but a nice reminder of his old quarries and an as enticing goal as any, finished and satisfied with his analysis of his performance he then fishes the rock from the satchel of the Nightingale armor it was stored within, bringing it up to the eye holes of the Dragon Priest's mask he long ago claimed from its twice dead corpse, he let himself get lost in the stone's beauty, its infinite refractions giving the impression of an entire world within its many facets, something he knew was not entirely impossible from his experience inside Azura's Star.

Thinking of Azura's Star brings memories of what he occupied himself with before he began his studies and training, even after he'd been taken from Tamriel the Daedric Princes he'd served across Skyrim, had been able to maintain contact, not through shrines, but through the artifacts he'd earned from all of the Daedric Princes, and while his disappearance from Skyrim upset many mortals despite Alduin's defeat and death, the Daedra couldn't have been happier that their champion could now extend their reach to the stars, to beings with technology the divines, still stuck in Tamriel, could only dream of. So eager was each Lord to be the first to gain worshipers and conduits into this new world of technology, that they argued for days about who's agenda would be fulfilled, nearly driving Krosis to insanity with so many voices echoing throughout his mind for those long three days, to this day he holds a special grudge against Sheogorath for his hand in making the argument last for so long, but at last a compromise was reached. A Daedra would be bound to Krosis, to act as a conduit to the Daedric Princes, organize their commands, and assist Krosis in his endeavors, a secretary in a sense, though no Daedra seemed to be fit for the task, yes, all were loyal to a fault towards their respective Lord though none held loyalty and respect for all Daedra and their respective Prince, and for the Daedric Lords, the search for the appropriate Daedra was becoming tiring, to say the least. Though, after weeks of searching, one was found, a Spider Daedra by the name of Krisaph whom was known for her good Samaritan nature towards her fellow Daedra and their worshipers, odd for a servant of the Prince of destruction, and immediately accepted upon being offered the honor of serving the will of every Daedric Lord, an honor only known to two others, Krosis, and the once Champion of Cyrodiil, now mad-god Sheogorath.

The Daedra found, she was bound to Krosis' soul using power from each Prince, never to be separated in life or death nor before the might of mortal or god. After that ordeal had been sorted Krosis felt that it was time to move from the station "Omega" he'd been staving off boredom on, and pissing off one or two crime lords in entertaining himself, for greener pastures, and fatter wallets, and so used a spell he invented with express purpose of information gathering, in order to steal knowledge of how maintain and pilot a ship, causing a pilot to lose his job due to forgetting how to pilot, but that just let Krosis know the spell needed improvement. Using his new-found knowledge to hijack a docked ship and use another spell he'd invented under the onslaught of boredom, a special conjuration spell that basically clones the caster a different number of times depending on the amount of magicka used, while they weren't durable enough for combat, they did allow for a single man to pilot a ship. The former crew of the ship were dumped onto the nearest hospitable planet, let it never be said he didn't give them a chance at survival, a solution Krisaph found quite amusing, caring she may be but a Daedra's enjoyment of mortal's misfortune is something one can never take. The problem of transport solved, Krosis proceeded to spread the influence of the Daedric Princes, Malacath of the hideous finding worshipers among the Vorcha, Mehrunes Dagon of destruction and ambition attracted the worship of many Krogans, Clavicus Vile became popular, in secret, with a few power-hungry individuals whom experienced proof of the Lords power, Hermaeus Mora the Vast Expanse of knowledge lured in the Asari and Salarians of an insatiable curiosity, Hircine's dominance of the hunt enticed a few bounty hunters and galactic huntsman into worship, Jyggalag the embodiment of order and logic was accepted by scientists and keepers of the peace, Mephala, the web spinner caught the interest of manipulators and strategists, Meridia of life's spark guided the hands of many a doctor in preserving it, Molag Bal of domination was embraced by sadistic criminals, who's pleasures were reviled by most other religions, and by masochists who simply wanted to be dominated by his worshipers or the Prince himself, Peryite of pestilence was revered by Vorcha and those whom believe society must be cleansed, Vaermina of dreams and nightmares entered the minds of those whom treasure the brain and its many machinations, Azura of the magic between twilights became an object of worship for fortune tellers and psychics, where once were cons were now genuine articles, Sanguine of debauchery and darker pleasures was taken in by the minds of those who freely indulge in their darker natures, a far greater percentage than in Tamriel, Namira of darkness and those reviled seized the mind of those whom wanted acceptance despite their their looks and those who reveled in their hideous physical nature, Nocturnal of thieves and the night guided the hands of more thieves than ever and got more than a few worshipers as well as Nightingales in return, Sheogorath of madness and the youngest Prince enraptured the minds of the mad and now was a name known in every insane asylum in the galaxy.

Though worship of the Daedric Princes was certainly known to many around the galaxy and was practiced by more than it ever would be in Tamriel, it wasn't as widespread or commonplace as many official religions and, to this day was only on the level of a cult, though steadily grows with each year, but there were still social stigmas attached to being a Daedra worshiper in popular culture, with only a scant few famous figures openly admitting to being a Daedra worshiper, mainly due to the lack of moral judgment with the Daedric Princes, a good selling point, but incriminating in the eyes of the "moral" populous. After his work in spreading the word of the Daedra had, for the most part, been finished, his influence only known to the highest ranked worshipers with his careful manipulations and honeyed words, Krosis went back to being a thief and assassin for hire, as the Daedric Princes had more than enough servants to carry out their will. And so we come to the three years of research and training he went through to find a way to fool every security measure this galaxy had to offer, money was no object as the Daedra worshipers were more than willing to offer financial support to their "Messiah" as they've taken to calling him, a fitting title given his deeds. _'Three years,'_ Krosis mutters in his mind, _'looking back, three years felt like they passed so quickly.'_ **'Of course it did, over those three years you were so focused on your research and training, you barely, if ever, noticed the sun and moon pass through the sky.' **the enticing, heavenly voice of Krisaph points out from within his mind and sighs, **'It almost made me wish you weren't so polarized between your two faces.'** Krosis, in his early days as an amateur thief, took the lesson of deception further than most ever did, through years of developing habits and molding his own mind he split it into two personalities, one of the fool, fun-loving, seemingly unprofessional yet with all of his skills as a master thief, and the other of logic and plans, with all of the skills of the former but only taking control when necessary to maintain the image of an idiot savant thief. An extreme measure of deception that fooled all of Skyrim into believing that he stole because it was the only thing he was good at, and not out of his simple greed and a desire for the thrill of thievery, and convinced more than a few guards into letting him go with the use of his silver-tongue. Krosis chuckles, _'Almost?'_ he questions, amusement lacing his mental words, Krisaph offers her gentle giggle in return, **'It's what makes you interesting even after living in your mind all of these years.'** she answers, a slight smile visible on the mental view he has of her whenever they converse, _'I suppose I have let my more critical personality be a little too dominant these last three years.' _he admits with Krisaph letting out a snort at the word "little," _'But, what say I make amends, eh?' _Krosis offers with the words thinly veiling the excitement he has for what he has planned, but Krisaph decides to play along, **'Oh? And what do you have in mind, my Twin-Headed Serpent?'** she queries with mirth, using the pet name she made for him in reference to his split personality and species, Krosis lets out a joyful, yet borderline sinister laugh characteristic of his more jovial personality, _'Why, the greatest crime spree Ilium has ever known, of course! After all, what better way to put my study and training to use?' _he reveals with a playful joy akin to that of a child, Krisaph can only grin and laugh with him, **'Nice to see those years of dormancy haven't changed your fun-loving side.' **she remarks with relief, as she will finally have some fun after those three long years.

After deactivating the training course, locking the doors to his home, and ensuring he was properly equipped for his nocturnal escapades, he jumps out of the sole window in his home and cast the alteration spell, "Wall Walk," which did exactly as its name implied, and allowed the caster to walk on walls, invaluable in a world of buildings that could taunt the moon with their height, and as soon as his feet makes contact with the wall of the skyscraper his home resided within, he is off, weaving through the shadows cast by city light, like a whisper in the wind he deftly avoids detection of the many people still basking in the joys of night, the cool breeze bringing refreshing air to his lungs, as he makes his way to stores and banks, each being hit without any knowing of his presence, building after building, pocket after pocket, he steals to his hearts content, for while there was no physical currency to take for his own, there were more than enough valuable objects to grab and sell for quite a profit. After hours of thievery the night comes to its crescendo as the master thief stops to gaze at his final quarry for the night, a Turian Military Base, heavily guarded and an adequate test of his skills in the field. Krosis looks away from the base to rest the cartoonishly large dark brown sack upon the ground and pull it open, proceeding to look inside, humming to himself he comes up with an answer to the unspoken question, "There should be enough room in here for a few valuable guns, and maybe a grenade or two." nodding to himself with that evaluation he closes the bag and casts an invisibility spell over it, set to last until he gets back. Krosis steps up to the ledge of the building, the armory directly across, though too far to jump, seeing this he prepares to do something he hasn't done since he was taken from Tamriel, taking in a deep breath and whispers three words though their power still rang true, "Wuld, Nah Kest." and as the words were spoken he is propelled across the gap with the greatest of ease and lands with light feet born from experience, the gap cleared, he looks for a way in, though, not finding one in his immediate area, decides to put to use his now more refined "Mind Scan" spell, that, unlike the first prototype, does not affect the memories of the victim in any way and can only be sensed by biotics and Asari due to their greater mental awareness. As it was a "touch" spell he had to get in close, a paltry task for him, so, casting "Wall Walk" he crawls down the side of the building to a bridge connecting this building to another, coming to a stop just above a soldier guarding the front door, extending his hand slowly, and carefully, his more logical side assuming control for the precision necessary, and with his hand in reach the spell is cast soundlessly, the only visible sign of its work being scant few dull green wispy tendrils bridging the gap between Krosis' hand and the back of the soldier's head. Within a few seconds Krosis scanned the soldiers memories, only memorizing those having to due with the building's security, after that short moment the spell stops, the necessary information gathered, before Krosis looks to the other side of the bridge, and whispers, "zul mey gut." the words of power called, his own voice taunts from the shadowed end of the bridge, "Hey! Skeever butt!" the guard, none the wiser, immediately pulls up his rifle and cries out,

"Who's there!" receiving no answer only makes the guard frustrated, "I said who's there!" he repeats angrily, after still receiving no answer he moves toward the other end, gun poised to fire, allowing for Krosis to noiselessly descend upon the ground, having pulled all the key codes from the turian's mind he quietly punches in the code and makes his way into the base and hears the guard give out a last few words, before shutting the door, "Who's there dammit! And what the hell's a Skeever?" letting himself have a quiet snicker he quickly jumps back onto the front wall of the hangar the door led to, getting a good grip and quickly crawling to the ceiling.

Knowing where the shadows were naturally cast from the memories he pulled, he takes a moment to figure out his exact route, _'Hmm, I could go with the most direct route, through the barracks, or through the amply shaded storage area, what do you think I should do Krisaph, this is after all, me making amends for the boredom you went through.' _said Spider Daedra only smirks, **'Oh yes, this venture was all for me, because aren't enjoying duping these mortals so easily at all' **Krosis smiles underneath his mask, _'True,' _he admits with amusement, _'But regardless, this is just as much for you as it is for me, and I have been making all of the decisions tonight, amusing as they may be.' _the bar brawl he started earlier came to mind at that comment, though, as those words are projected from his mind Krisaph gains a devious smile, **'Well since you're so insistent on the matter, have a clone grab a bucket of hot pink paint from the bag,'** _'And what makes you think I stole a bucket of paint, let alone a pink one?' _Krisaph simply gives him a deadpan look, **'Because you steal everything of even remote value'** she points out as if it was obvious, which to anyone who knew Krosis, it was, he simply gives a weak chuckle, _'Point taken, so what do you want me to do with the paint?' _he questions, truly curious, **'Nope, you'll just have to wait and see.' **she refuses playfully, enjoying the mild look of annoyance on his face, _'Very well, Krisaph, but there will come a day when I learn how to read your thoughts as you do mine.'_ he mock threatens, earning a chuckle from her, **'Well, until that day my Twin-Headed Serpent, I shall enjoy keeping my secrets, secret.' **she happily taunts,** 'Now, do as I say, you did say this night was for me, right?' **she kindly orders, batting her eyelashes in her imitation of cuteness. Seeing that he's lost this round he sighs and does as she commanded, sending a clone to retrieve the paint, it should be fine as long as it doesn't trip, **'Now, when the clone gets back take the paint and go to the barracks.' **knowing she wouldn't specify on her objectives more than necessary he simply chooses to remain on the ceiling, contemplating if casting a fury spell on one of the patrolling soldiers would be worth it, though, luckily before he can expand on that idea the clone returns with the bucket of pink paint, proving that, yes, Krosis did steal everything worth anything, the clone passes him the bucket before dissipating like dust blown away in the wind, hooking the bucket handle over his shoulder he crawls across the ceiling towards the barracks, easily slipping past the guards, undetected. Reaching a door that led to his objective, he looks around the door from his vantage point to ensure no guards nor cameras would see him enter the code or go through the doorway, upon seeing none would, he nods to himself before dropping from the ceiling and landing, light as a feather, inputting the code, the door unlocks and he slips in closing the door behind him, and looks to the hallway in front of him, seeing a camera about to turn in his direction, widening his eyes he hastily casts an invisibility spell, just in time for the camera to miss the magicka's light, letting a sigh of relief escape his lips, he takes this chance to silently sprint through the corridors, the many lights doing nothing to reveal his form, unnoticed by the cameras and soldiers, navigating the hallways with ease thanks to the Skeever butt guard's memories he quickly reaches the barracks, most of the bunks filled with sleeping soldiers, their snores allowing for him to be slightly louder in his actions here, _'Okay, Krisaph, I'm in the barracks, now what?' _he questions of her, **'Now, make as many clones as needed and have them paint all of the soldiers' uniforms pink.' **Krosis rose an eyebrow behind his mask, _'...really? That's it?'_ his voice contained, a little disappointment, and Krisaph merely replies, **'Ha! O ye of little faith, the fruits of this will be well known come tomorrow morning.'** reassured but not convinced Krosis merely shrugs before doing as she said, and, seeing as he made enough clones to get the job done and has no more need for the soon-to-be empty paint bucket, he leaves the room through a door opposite the one he entered, casting the invisibility spell once more, he bounds silently, maneuvering from one hallway to the next with fluidity and ease, before coming a seeming dead end, an easily missed, unassuming keypad tucked in the corner, Krosis approaches the keypad, punching in the code, and nodding with satisfaction that the Skeever butt guard has been here for long enough to simply learn the code because he was trusted by his superior officer with it. The "dead end's" wall lowered revealing a laboratory behind it with many shiny prototypes in view, Krosis lets out a grin before going to town, "Mine, Mine, Mine, OoOoh definitely mine." and with each successive mine another prototype was stolen from its place, the last one being of a particularly shiny variety. With the lab cleaned out, he cast one last invisibility spell and made his way outside, up the wall, hearing the guard back to his post grumbling about looking up "Skeever" on the internet, and back on the roof before using whirlwind sprint to clear the gap once more, fetching the now visible bag, the spell having worn off, and the nights high point accomplished he heads home to rest and make an appointment with someone who'll buy his loot.

After his blank sleep Krosis awakens, bleary-eyed and drowsy, not of his own volition after such a long night indulging in the thrill of thievery, but, **'GET UP! Get up get up get up! And get your tail to the television! I don't want to miss it!'** Krisaph's desires wait for no man. Krosis grunts in aggravation at Krisaph's pushiness, but chooses not to fight back, he learned long ago that winning an argument against Krisaph takes all of one's energy and willpower, two things he currently had neither of. Using what little energy he has, he drags his barely awake feet to the living room, eying the couch, its black hue and deep red pillows looking so beautiful and heavenly in his exceedingly tired state, finally managing to drag himself to the edge, he let go and fell like a rock onto its cold but oh so soft cushions, his tail lazily hanging over the backrest, he almost lets go and falls into sleep once more, **'OH NO YOU DON'T! Get up and turn that TV to the news!'** Krisaph shouts, aggravated, from within, clearly not going to let him rest until they see, whatever she's so eager to see. Exhausted and getting annoyed he lifts his head with every ounce of strength he can scrounge up and tiredly moans out, "Brelyna!" hearing its name being called an ethereal blue hologram with the likeness of a dark elf wearing a Winterhold mage's uniform phases into existence, its face lacking any emotion,

"Yes? Krosis?" Brelyna inquires as her "eyes" focus on his prone form, seeing the VI of Brelyna Maryon ready for orders and now being just awake enough to move he pushes himself up and into a sitting position,

"Could you, turn on the news please?" he manages to get out, sitting, slouched in the cushions, his tail now lying limp to the side. The hologram merely stares into space before the television flickers on, the local news channel logo just entering the screen,

"Anything else, Krosis?" "she" queries, eyes refocusing on him,

"No, that's all Brelyna." he drowsily answers, Brelyna nods before phasing out as quickly as she came. With the hologram gone he lazily looks to the news, finally allowing himself a yawn, _'Alright, Krisaph, what did you want to see?'_ he asks, now more awake and aware, getting a small chuckle from her for his question, **'Just wait, watch, and listen, you'll know when you see it.' **figuring that she wouldn't elaborate any further, he simply relaxes and watches the newscasters do their jobs, with some "friendly banter" laced throughout the reports. After watching for ten minutes they bring up a story actually interesting to him, the aftermath of his first crime spree in a long while, a salarian on the scene giving his report and many shopkeepers in the background talking with the police,

"This is the scene on one of the average streets of Ilium, on the outside, nothing appears wrong, no windows broken, no stores vandalized, but on the inside, inside there is nothing, merchandise inexplicably missing from their former shelves, high security boxes for valuable merchandise opened, without force, and their innards plundered, anything on-site of value for all of the shops and banks within a mile radius, stolen, everything gone, even the cheap toys from a dime-store shelf, gone." Krosis, sheepishly grins, now sitting in a more upright position, at that comment while the reporter continues his report, sympathy in his voice for the owners of all of these places, "But, who's to blame, for these numerous crimes, who's to blame for the many small businesses that will be out of business because of this thievery, well, as far as the police know, no one, with the exception of the missing merchandise, there is no evidence as to who the culprit is, no footprints, no fingerprints, not even an image on a security camera, it was as if the merchandise just, disappeared, so as a request from the police and this reporter, anyone with information on someone suspicious, call this number, and give any info you might have." the salarian finishes as the feed cuts out and goes back to the anchors. Krosis jumps up from the couch, pumping his fist in victory,

"Ha! The skills of a master thief at work for all to see, or, not to see, as would be more appropriate." he announces with a satisfied grin under his mask, Krisaph gives an amused chuckle, **'Well, I'm glad that got you awake, but A: with the exception of that military base, you mostly only stole from small businesses, and B: that isn't what I wanted you to see.'** she points out matter-of-factly, a sly smirk on her face, but Krosis' mood isn't brought down a bit, _'THIS time it was small businesses, that was just a test after all, next time we're going more things of real value. And what do you mean that wasn't what you wanted me to see?' _he points out eagerly then questions bewildered, but Krisaph merely shakes her head getting exasperated, **'Just sit back, and watch.'** sighing, he sits, leaning into the soft cushions and relaxing his arms over the back of the couch, resting his feet on the dark brown coffee table in front, and thus, the news continues, referencing the string of burglaries now and then, until at the 45-minute mark, a turian news anchor currently has the floor,

"Well, moving on from the more depressing side of the news, we now come to the special event I know I have been waiting for for the last month, the annual march of our proud men and women in the army around the few proud memorials on Ilium." the turian proudly reports, clearly quite supportive of the turian military. It is at this moment, that everything finally clicks in Krosis' mind, his eyes widen, and all he can do,

"Oh no..." he utters with dread. Seeing him figure it out Krisaph gives out a sadistic grin, **'Oh yes...' **she replies, mischievous pride oozing from her words, with that the feed cuts to the march already in progress around a 20-foot tall dark stone statue of a turian striking a valiant pose, commanding non-existent troops forward, while the existent troops march around the memorial, their hot pink armor standing out more than the statue ever could, the uniforms showing signs of the desperate scrubbing that probably occurred before the march, and only a few soldiers retaining their dignity in clean armor, with more than a few civilians running off to snicker, away from the soldiers' view. As for Krosis and Krisaph, he can only sit there, open mouthed, entertained, and secretly hoping they don't find out who redecorated their armor, and she is cackling away like a mad banshee, her laughs echoing in his mind, though Krosis only had one question, _'How did you know about this?' _Krisaph's cackles die down, and she turns her attention back to him, **'Well, when you scanned that guard's mind, I did some digging of my own, and learned about this march, that the needed soldiers were sleeping in preparation for it, and what channel with a certain patriotic turian would be covering the whole march.' **she explains, a smile showing her pride at her plan unfolding so perfectly. _'Well I have to say I'm impressed with you Krisaph, you single-handedly humiliated the turian military on Ilium.' _he compliments, a simple, happy smile on his face, getting a smile right back from her, **'Can you expect anything less from your favorite Daedra?' **she replies playfully, he chuckles, knowing that she really is his favorite Daedra, _'No, I guess I can't.'_

The next nights proceeded much in the same fashion, though, in a different section of Ilium each time, they amassed quite a bit of loot, but Krosis was putting off finding a buyer until he had a higher percentage of loot actually worth a lot and wasn't just shiny, a time consuming task considering his borderline kleptomania, as each night passed and greater bulls-eyes were plundered he became more and more well known to Ilium, or rather his deeds did as, with his skill, the peacekeepers of Ilium and the now bloodthirsty big businesses reasoned that such wide-scale thievery could only be accomplished by a highly trained, highly organized, and highly influential group, Krosis and Krisaph merely laughed at their incorrect theories as they ran off into the night, carting bulging sacks of loot. It was the most fun they'd both had in a long time, until...

"Oh crap!" Krosis curses hearing the alarm blaring, sprinting out a nearby window, quickly making contact with the wall and running up to the building's distant roof, already hearing sirens roaring, close to his position. He curses once more, _'How did they get here so fast?... They were waiting for me, that's why the guards didn't know about that trip-laser, I hate it when things are on a need-to-know basis.' _shaking off his thoughts he only focuses on running. Upon reaching the roof he dashes to the opposite ledge, but when getting there he sees that there's no building within reach even with whirlwind sprint, and the nearest walkway hundreds of feet down, heavy traffic ready to clip him on the way, however, seeing the amount of traffic gives him a, most likely suicidal, idea. Taking a pick of a small freighter coming down the way, he backs up to get a running start, just in time for,

"FREEZE!" comes the stern order of peacekeepers exiting a stairwell, their guns ready, yet Krosis pays them no mind as he starts his run, "I SAID FREEZE!" erupts another shout, but, as before it is paid no mind as Krosis jumps, and successfully lands on the freighter, the driver unaware of his hitchhiker, Krosis, takes this moment to look back at the officers still on the roof, now on the edge staring at him in unrestrained shock at his stunt, and can't help but taunt them with a quick mock salute. Krosis chuckles and turns forward to find a way off less daring than how he got on, his solution presents itself as a construction site within jumping distance, getting ready to jump he sees gunships in the corners of his eyes closing in on the freighter, shifting his moderately sized sack of loot, ensuring it's secure, he nods to himself and jumps, only barely gaining footing on one of the many open ledges of the construction site, immediately bounding through the desolate forest of steel beams eventually reaching an elevator shaft, sighing he uses his tail to hold the sack of loot while he takes out his two daedric daggers before jamming them in between the elevator doors and forcing them open in a show of strength one wouldn't expect from his lithe body, seeing the shaft conveniently was transparent, he uses the daggers still holding the doors back to push himself over the ledge, keeping his feet in contact with it, and launching himself down the shaft. Falling at terminal velocity and sheathing his daggers, he keeps watch on the outside, waiting for until he reaches the "ground floor," upon seeing a courtyard outside, he quickly flips in mid-air, now right-side up and facing the wall, he casts Wall Walk and makes contact on the wall ahead with his hands and feet, sliding to a stop, his gloves absorbing the friction, right in front of a closed door, he takes out his daggers once more, his feet maintaining his grip on the wall, and again jams both blades in and forces the door open, speedily jumping out of the shaft, sheathing the daggers, and taking the bag in his hand again he turns to the entrance. Sprinting out to the bare courtyard, he stops as bright lights shine into his eyes, temporarily blinding him in the middle of the courtyard, that moment of pause proves to be enough for the peacekeepers to surround him with four gunships and over thirty officers, all with their guns trained on him. Krosis straightens to a ram rod stiff position holding his hands in surrender, the bag still in his grip, _'You don't seem worried.'_ he mentally remarks as an officer orders him to drop the bag, **'I'm not.' **Krisaph simply replies, not worried in the least as Krosis gently lays down his loot, _'Why?' _he questions, curious as to her apparent lack of concern, she merely snorts as the officer now orders him to get on the ground, **'Because, my Twin-Headed Serpent, I'd wager you have an ace up your sleeve that will make fools out of these mortals.' **she answers with a sly smile on her face, earning a hearty chuckle and a grin from Krosis as the officer yells out about a "last warning," _'Hehehe, you'd be right.' _as the officer finishes giving his last warning, Krosis takes in a deep breath, "FAAS RU MAAR!" he shouts at the top of his lungs, a mighty shock wave erupting from his spot, and enveloping all in the vicinity, for a small moment, the only sound is the shout's echo, then,

"RUN!" and with that scream from one officer, all others throw down their guns and anything else that might slow them down as they run in absolute terror, the pilots of the gunships, losing their rational thought in the wake of fear, pull out, flying away as fast as they can, with only one hitting the building in its panicked fleeing, before smashing its own crater in the courtyard. Seizing this moment, Krosis picks up his loot and casts both Invisibility and Wall Walk, speedily making his way far from the scene, and evading the peacekeepers, **'You know, you can move faster without the loot' **Krisaph points out, he merely laughs, _'Ha ha, if I let them force me to ditch what I've already stolen that means they've beaten me, and they haven't beaten me.' _he explains with the smile of a true rogue adorning his face. Krosis makes it, undetected, back to his home, a hologram of Brelyna coming into its deep blue form upon his entry through the window, "Was your outing enjoyable Krosis?" she asks, as per her programming, gaining a satisfied chuckle from him, "Oh yes, Brelyna, it was a most enjoyable outing indeed." he answers the VI with a grin, and proceeds to sit on couch and empty his sack of loot, checking what he actually stole, the phrase, "Why did I steal this?" being the most used throughout that night.

**Aboard the Normandy SR-1**

The debriefing with Liara proved to be enlightening, although she doesn't know the reason her mother sided with Saren, her knowledge of the Protheans and her biotics will come in more than handy. Some of the crew doesn't seem to trust her, based on her connection to Benezia, but, looking at Liara, Shepard can only see a curious little girl, an introvert, sure, but not someone who would side with Saren or the Geth. As everyone left the debriefing room Joker's voice comes in over the intercom, "Report is away commander, want me to patch you through to the council?" he inquires in his serious voice, Shepard looks to the camera,

"Patch 'em through, Joker." he affirms and turns to the three communications terminals in the back of the debriefing room, with a mere flicker the orange holographic images of the three council members come into view,

"We've received your report commander, I understand Dr. T'Soni is on the Normandy." the asari councilor speaks in the unemotional tone of voice all politicians seemed capable of producing,

"I assume you're taking the necessary security precautions." the turian councilor remarks in the same tone, though Shepard chooses to explain Liara innocence in the matter,

"Liara's on our side, the Geth were trying to kill her." he recalls from his rescue of her,

"Benezia would never allow Saren to try to kill her daughter." the asari rebuts, unbelieving Benezia would do such a thing,

"Maybe she doesn't know." the salarian councilor offers as a possibility,

"Or maybe we don't know her, we never expected she could become a traitor." the turian speaks offering his own opinion,

"At least the mission was a success." the salarian points out,

"Apart from the utter destruction of a major Prothean ruin, was that really necessary Shepard?" the turian questions, obviously not having much faith in the Human Spectre's judgment,

"The Geth were crawling all over those ruins, we were lucky to make it out of there alive." Shepard reminds them of how he didn't bring down those ruins without good cause,

"Of course, the mission must always take priority." the salarian acknowledges, "but Shepard, we have come across new info that might interest you." he alludes, already knowing whether or not it would interest Shepard,

"What is it?" he queries, knowing any information on the Geth or Saren would help,

"Recently there has been a massive crime spree on Ilium, almost every store and business is now devoid of everything of value." the asari explains, though Shepard only raises an eyebrow,

"While that's certainly alarming, I don't see what this has to do with Saren or the Geth." he remarks, not seeing what this has to do with his mission,

"We're getting to that Shepard. But only a few hours ago did we receive a tape found in a news camera at the crash site of a security gunship, with a recording of what happened before the crash." the salarian explains, with that done he nods to an unseen individual to start the tape, soon after, a screen projects showing the video already playing, all for stay silent to let the tape run its course,

"Suspect is in sight, I repeat, suspect is in sight. Proceeding to surround" a pilot reports, the cameraman trying to still the omni-tool's camera, and finally manages to do so, centering it on an individual surrounded by an almost absurd amount of officers, and three other gun ships, its smoke gray outfit, bronze tribal mask, brown hood and strangely, a black and gray tail twirling absent-mindedly, practically glowing in the center of all of the spotlights,

"Drop the bag, slowly." one of the commanding officers orders of the culprit, and it does so, but, when ordered to get on the ground, it simply remains standing, and stays that way, the officer's continued threats of its last warning doing nothing to phase it, in that moment Shepard goes over the many ways he believes this could play out, but, unexpectedly, the suspect visibly takes in a deep breath,

"FAAS RU MAAR!" with that a shock wave burst forth, engulfing everyone in the blast radius, and, at first, nothing happened, but progressively the cameraman started shaking, getting worse and worse, until,

"RUN!" came the shout of an officer, and with that the floodgates burst forth, everyone starts inexplicably running in terror from the single suspect now only standing there, seemingly enjoying the show, Shepard widens his eyes, now seeing the gunship pilots desperately pulling their ships away, though the cameraman's ship wasn't so lucky, for it seemed in the pilot's panic, they were rammed in a wall of the nearby building, cascading out of control until finally hitting the ground, fires starting to ignite with both pilot and cameraman dead, tangled in the compressed mess of metal. But the camera still functioned, catching one last glimpse of the suspect retaking his bag and sprinting off, surprisingly becoming invisible mid-run. It's there that the feed cuts, leaving Shepard to stand there wide-eyed still trying to comprehend what he saw, the councilors seem understanding of this and most likely went through own moment after viewing the tape for the first time. Nothing is said between them for the next few moments,

"There, now you know why this crime spree is so important, and before you ask, we believe it to be some sort of prototype Geth infiltrator, due to its willful disregard for its life, the targets going from small businesses to military bases, and other buildings with high security, most of the objects stolen being worthless, like these thefts were more for a field test than to actually get anything valuable, it's ability to climb on walls, confirmed by several officers, and this newer ability activated by shouting a nonsensical phrase." the turian councilor lists off, bringing Shepard out of his stupor and back to his all-business disposition, he nods to the councilors

"I'll go to Ilium and check it out immediately." he informs them, the councilors showing some sense of relief at that,

"We'd appreciate it if you did Shepard, as if this is a Geth and was ever used against us in battle or in sabotage..." the salarian councilor states leaving it unfinished, knowing Shepard knew how much damage something with these capabilities could cause. With that the feed cuts off, leaving the Spectre to think up a plan to combat this new, presumed, Geth,

"Joker! Set a course for Ilium." he orders through the intercom, getting a "roger" in acknowledgment.

**Later on Ilium**

Ever since that eventful night, Krosis chose to be a little more random in his targets, now expanding his targets to residences, which offered many fun possibilities in redecoration, and served its task in confusing law enforcement as to where he'd strike next, and it was back to smooth, nights with full bags of loot, with vastly differing amounts of actual worth, but eventually,

"Okay that is just unfair!" Krosis screams out in frustration at this newest alarm that tripped, not because he faulted, but because he took a shiny, decorative ball off of the front desk of an office building that just happened to be rigged. Ignoring his frustration he sprints out of the building to the only bridge out that would get him within range of another building or any of those flying cars, but alas as it seems the peacekeepers were very prepared this time round and already had the bridge covered with several officers that strangely didn't advance into the building, but Krosis simply dismisses it as them believing that they have him cornered, and retreats inside the front doors to slip through a service door and ascend up a spiral staircase leading to the roof, jumping from guard rail to guard rail getting higher and higher before soon reaching the top and bounding out of the door to the roof, gunships already in position around it, ready to fire, _'Wow, they really thought this one through.' _he comments, and hears a hum from Krisaph, **'They're certainly smarter than the guards in Skyrim, I'll give 'em that.'** she agrees. Hearing people coming from the stairs he turns, and sees a human, a quarian and an asari, just exiting and training their guns on him,

"Surrender, you're surrounded!" the human orders in a tone that normally leaves no room for argument, but with Krosis...

"How about no, Strun Bah Ao!" with that another shock wave explodes from him, this one shaking the building beneath them. As the two sides regain their footing dark clouds quickly gather above, blotting out any light from the stars, and after a moment that is commonly known as the calm before the storm, a crack of lightening erupts from the clouds, its merciless force striking each gunship, one after the other, each sent down in a flaming wreck, the rain doing nothing to the fires. With the airborne targets eliminated, the senseless storm's desire for destruction sought other targets, quickly striking bolt after bolt near the human and his allies,

"Take cover!" the human bellows, receiving no argument from the other two, all of them finding shelter behind the stairwell or guardrails, Krosis takes this moment to let out a much needed cough, _'I hate using that shout, it always really hurts my throat.' _he remarks to himself, his throat is indeed very sore from the power of the shout at full strength. The human, from behind his cover, notices Krosis' lack of attention, "Tali! Use overload!" he orders,

"Right Shepard!" Tali acknowledges, quickly rising from her cover and doing as she was ordered, getting a direct hit on Krosis before quickly getting back into cover, just avoiding another bolt of lightening, and, while not hurting him, did manage to make the many electronics in his bag explode, roughly sending him to the ground, from which he quickly recovers. Upon seeing the destruction of his loot though, his hands ball into tight fists, shaking with rarely felt fury, **'Oh no...'** Krisaph mutters in dread, she may enjoy playing around and messing with Krosis, but if there was one thing she learned from their years together, it was to never, destroy, his, loot, **'Those three, are dead men walking...' **unaware of the impending doom heading their way, Tali turns to the human now known as Shepard,

"It didn't work." she tells him, confused as to why,

"What? Then what was that explosion?" Shepard questions, _'If overload didn't affect it, then, that's not a Geth!' _his eyes widen, though he decides to ponder on the implications of that later, he turns to Tali, awaiting her answer,

"That explosion was all of the electronics it stole," she is interrupted by a male's cry of unholy rage, "and I think that just made him very angry." she finishes, a tad disturbed by the now evident fury, daring to take a look the three now see Krosis quickly advancing on their position, the eye-holes of his mask almost glowing with his anger, a black and crimson dagger in each hand, each looking demonic and tough enough to pierce a krogan's hide making for quite an intimidating sight. Widening their collective eyes they quickly retreat from their cover as Krosis blades cleanly dig into where they were a split-second ago,

"Liara, lift!" Shepard commands, Liara does so, not taking time to verbally acknowledge the order. Krosis is then surrounded by a blue aura and lifts into the air, still in his rage,

"Now! Fire!" Shepard call out, though, just before all three pull their triggers, Krosis throws the dagger in his left hand, with high precision it drives deep into Liara's left thigh, the blade not going fast enough for the shield to block, forcing her to drop to the floor and wail in pain, "Liara!" Shepard cries out, anger starting to rise within him at his squad-mate's pain and grits his teeth, turning to unload everything he has on Krosis, still stuck in the air Krosis quickly uses his now empty left hand to quickly cast a powerful ward spell, effectively blocking every shot fired until both guns overheat, and the two are forced to get themselves and their injured teammate behind cover once more. Krosis' anger relieving somewhat after injuring Liara, he falls to the floor, the lift wearing off, and disappears into the many shadows, sneaking around them, knowing they'd be too preoccupied assisting their friend to notice. Shepard is currently looking over the dagger, still firmly in place, Liara's eyes beginning to water at the amount of pain engulfing her injured leg,

"Shepard, what did he do? It looked like some kind of advanced shielding." Tali asks of him, knowing the Spectre had far more combat experience than her,

"I don't know, but we can't take any chances against whoever this is." Shepard remarks, still looking over Liara's wound , getting ready to pull the dagger out and use medigel to fix the injury. But their distraction allows Krosis to make his way behind Tali, unseen in the many shadows cast by the city light, taking this chance he grabs her, forcing her to drop her gun and her left hand behind her back, placing his remaining dagger at her throat, her surprised gasp alerting Shepard, whom immediately trains his rifle on Krosis, though Shepard dared not fire, with Tali being used as a shield, "Let her go!" he yells, his voice not betraying his worry,

"Why? First you destroy my loot and then you try to kill me, even if I started it." Krosis questions in a cold, almost robotic voice, showing his second personality at work, "But I must ask, who are you? I've never seen a three-man team with a human, quarian, and asari come after me before, and with the full support of the law enforcement no less!" he inquires, quite curious at seeing three different species work together so fluently, Shepard, knowing that he has no choice but to answer to keep Tali safe, takes in a breath to relax his nerves,

"I'm Commander Shepard, council spectre, and these two are part of my crew." he calmly explains, knowing that showing his worry for his teammates would only exacerbate the situation. "Now that I've told you who I am, I think its only fair for you to do the same for us." he remarks, trying to get some kind of identity to go with the mask, Krosis merely coldly chuckles at the unsubtle request,

"Who said I played fair?" he can't resist but to point out, though he sees that the spectre is less than satisfied with his answer, "But I'll indulge you, Krosis, master thief and assassin for hire at your service." he announces with a bit of gleeful bravado mixing in, but not being foolish as to remove his dagger from its position nor loosen his grip on Tali's wrist, hearing this Shepard raises an eyebrow at the sudden shift in Krosis' tone, his tribal mask looking less intimidating than before. The grave nature of the situation lessens somewhat though neither party dares to lower their guard, Shepard's gun still ready to fire at any sudden movement, and Krosis retaining his firm grip on Tali,

"So, you don't work for Saren or theGeth?" the spectre feels compelled to ask, causing Krosis to tilt his head in confusion,

"Um, Who is Saren and what are the Geth?" he asks, getting very confused, and hearing those names for the first time, Tali and Liara widening their eyes at becoming aware that this entire fight could have been avoided. At this point Shepard comes to the realization that, they aren't really enemies, at least, that they don't have to be, and, remembering the footage shown to him by the council, starts to envision how much of a boon those abilities could be to his mission to stop Saren,

"Krosis was it?" at receiving a nod he continues, "What would it take to hire you?" Shepard asks seriously, causing his two teammate to look at him in shock, Liara ignoring her pain to do so,

"Shepard! You can't be serious!" comes the shocked voice of Tali, still restrained by Krosis, but Krosis shows intrigue in the offer,

"Depends, as a spectre can you clear my name of all crimes?" he asks, seeing a way to get away with everything Scot-free,

"As long as you give back everything you stole." Shepard offers with a nod, not about to let Krosis get away with ALL of his crimes, Krosis sighs, knowing that getting off so easily was a long shot,

"What do you want to hire me for anyway?" he inquires, aware that he should know before agreeing to anything, or setting the terms,

"I'm hunting a rogue spectre by the name of Saren, who somehow has the backing of a race of synthetic AIs known as Geth, I want you as a part of my crew to help stop him." Shepard explains giving Krosis the bare details necessary to know the risk of this mission, but not informing him of the Reapers, as presenting that without evidence confirming their existence might botch the deal.

"Hm, that is a big job." Krosis comments to himself and hums, "How about this Shepard, I go with you on your mission, and give back everything I stole, in return, you use your spectre status to clear my name of all crimes and I am allowed to lay claim to anything I steal from the enemies we make on this mission in lieu of an actual fee." he illustrates, the deal sounding quite fair, as anything stolen from Saren or the Geth is another thing they can't use, and while the council might not like it, having Krosis as an ally is better than as an enemy. Shepard nods in acceptance of the deal's terms, lowering his gun as a sign of trust, Krosis doing the same in releasing Tali and sheathing his dagger. Shepard and Krosis walk up to each other, looking the other deep in their eyes, judging one another, Shepard, though not liking everything he saw in those eyes, sighs and extends and open palm, as for Krosis, he saw a saint in the making in Shepard's eyes, someone who would become a hero and a role model to the entire galaxy, he chuckles before extending his own hand, nothing like him at all.


	2. Chapter 2

(A/N: And here's chapter 2 of Krosis' tale in the Mass Effect universe. This update is very soon after the last one, and, as a word of warning, I can't guarantee the same speed in updating the story with future chapters, don't get me wrong, I would sooner ban myself from the internet than abandon a story, but it's simply not all chapters will proceed as smoothly as this one did. That done, thank you for the reviews! Specifically to Kamen Rider Chalice for actually giving criticism, but any review with something to say about the story is uplifting, but, in response to He Who See's, that little fact about biotics was my mistake though I won't change it since I need more than just Asari to be capable of sensing and repelling a mind scan since I can't just have him able to go around and mind rape everyone who isn't an Asari. Those two subjects cleared, onto the story. P.S. I fixed the Tamriel/Nirn issue.)

**Chapter 2**

**Aboard the Normandy**

Five minutes, five minutes en-counting the total silence lasts in the Normandy's debriefing room, the crew just staring at their newest member, standing in the center of the debriefing room, unsure what to think of their commander's choice in recruitment, especially after hearing what Krosis did to Liara. The silence continues, Krosis begins to get a little disturbed, as a thief not being used to the spotlight, about to speak, just to break the silence, "Permission to speak freely commander?" Ashley requests, speaking before Krosis could,

"Granted Williams." Shepard affirms, nodding, already having an idea as to what Ashley's thoughts were going to be,

"What the hell were you thinking, sir?" she almost demands in a tone that shows she clearly does not agree with her commander on his choice. At hearing Ashley's uncouth question, Krosis can't help but laugh, clutching his stomach, finding such blatant disrespect for a superior officer quite funny, the laughter certainly gets the crew to relax somewhat but still remain distrustful of Krosis, "I mean, I can understand Liara, since the Geth were obviously trying to kill her." she reasons, seeing the logic there, "But an assassin for hire of an unknown species, who already has a criminal record? Care to explain that one?" she asks, clearly not the slightest bit trusting of Krosis and wanting Shepard to explain his reasoning and, hopefully, put some of the crew's fears to rest. Shepard nods in understanding, aware of how bad an idea choosing to hire someone like that can be,

"Don't worry Ashley, while I don't trust Krosis that much, believe me when I say that we'd much rather have him as an ally than as an enemy." he tries to comfort them, though Ashley merely scoffs,

"Whether he's really our ally is what I'm worried about." she mutters under her breath while shaking her head. Though this gains a snort from Krosis, drawing attention from Ashley to himself,

"Please, as if I'd renege on our deal," he remarks, as if the very idea was ridiculous, "as I doubt that Shepard would be so short-sighted as to clear my name before this mission was deemed a success." he points out, Shepard nodding and proving Krosis' assumption and indirectly alleviating some of the crews fears of betrayal.

"Loyalties aside, what were those abilities you showed?" Tali questions with a tilt of her head, trying to move the topic to something and wishing to sate her own curiosity, "I've never seen a form of shielding projected from the user's hand. A form of biotics perhaps?" she theorizes, not being a biotic herself, though Liara, a hand massaging her healed though still sore thigh, shakes her head knowing that to be false,

"Those weren't biotics, whenever someone uses biotics they are surrounded with a blue aura, and their powers are the same shade of blue as well." she lists, trying to decipher Krosis' abilities as well, "Yet Krosis showed no aura altogether, and the shield he projected was transparent with a predominately white outline." she finishes, her eyes unfocused, mind concentrating on recalling every detail of the fight, squinting while trying to ignore the phantom pain.

"Krosis, would you be willing to enlighten all of us as to your abilities?" comes the request of Shepard, though it was more of an order, the question turns all attention back to Krosis, as, if anyone can shed some light on these skills, it would be their user.

"Magic." he answers simply, it was the truth, getting more than a few raised eyebrows, one of which comes from Shepard,

"Magic?" he can only question, in an obvious tone of disbelief, earning a single nod from Krosis,

"Magic. Specifically the school of Restoration." he elaborates with a raised finger and no hint of deception in his voice, the crew believe him to be screwing with them, and is plainly unwilling to explain the source of his abilities. Wrex lets out a grunt,

"I don't see why we should care about how he does what he does, as long as he fights alongside us, let him keep his secrets." he states gruffly, letting his perspective be known, only seeing someone who's on their side and can fight, getting a reluctant nod from the crew, each knowing they all have their own secrets.

Shepard shakes his head and gives out a sigh, "Very well, Krosis, if you refuse to elaborate, I won't force you." he declares, said thief giving no outward reaction, but laughing on the inside with Krisaph. Ignoring Krosis' lack of acknowledgment, Shepard looks over Krosis' outfit, only now noticing a lack of guns of any kind, "Krosis," he addresses, once more capturing the attention of the thief, "where are your guns?" he inquires, the other occupants now notice the same, Krosis shrugs at the question,

"I don't use guns," he states shaking his head, "far too counter-productive to my exploits." he calmly explains before directing his hand towards Shepard, "Besides, you, T'Soni, and Tali'Zorah can attest to how dangerous I manage to be without them." he points out with a chuckle, the Spectre nods with Liara squinting once more at remembering just how skilled he was with those daggers. Wrex grunts once more,

"You must be very skilled, or very stupid." he bluntly states, in his usual way, earning a few chuckles from the crew, Shepard simply shakes his head,

"Regardless, you should go to the quartermaster and get outfitted with a weapon. On this mission you will have to help with in the inevitable firefights." he orders, knowing that no matter how skilled you are, something will eventually go wrong, and you have to be prepared for it. Krosis, though radiating annoyance, nods,

"If you say so Shepard." he mutters, "If introductions are finished, I shall head to the lower deck and speak to the quartermaster." he acquiesces before turning to leave,

"Okay, dismissed everyone!" Shepard announces, everyone rising and following Krosis out, Shepard remaining in the room.

"Report's away commander, want me to patch you through to the council?" Jokers asks from the intercom, gaining a nod from the Spectre,

"Patch 'em through." he consents, approaching the three terminals in the back of the room just as orange representations of the council members take form.

"Shepard, are we reading this report correctly?" the turian councilor immediately questions in a displeased tone, "That not only is the culprit not a Geth, but that you recruited him?" he almost demands, clearly not pleased with these results,

"Perhaps you can enlighten us as to your reasons, Shepard." comes the voice of the asari, trying to be more reasonable than her fellow councilor.

"Well, when confronting him, we went through with our plan," Shepard begins to explain, "though after discovering he wasn't a Geth, it went downhill fast, first Liara got a dagger in her thigh, then, while I checked the severity of her injury, Krosis managed to make his way around us and take Tali hostage." he continues to describe the encounter, each council member listening intently, waiting for him to get to the point, "Knowing he wasn't a Geth, I had to choose between finding a compromise, or further risk the life of one or both of my teammates." he finishes his tale,

"So, it was an alliance of convenience..." the salarian assumes, Shepard's nod confirming it. "Still, how can you ensure his loyalty?" he inquires expectantly.

"Him and I came to an agreement that shall be fulfilled after Saren has been stopped." Shepard informs the council with some trepidation, aware of the risk he is taking with the deals terms.

"And what did deal did you two agree upon?" the turian queries, somehow knowing that he wouldn't like the answer,

"That in return for his assistance in my mission and giving back everything he stole from Ilium, his name would be cleared of all crimes and he would be permitted to keep anything he steals from Saren." Shepard coolly illustrates the deal's terms, at hearing this the council uniformly give off a less than pleased aura, the turian councilor looking down to shake his head,

"You're really pushing your Spectre status Shepard," he mutters getting weary of dealing with Shepard's decisions so far, looking back up, he locks eyes with the Spectre, "but it is within your power, just know this, anything he does, before or after your mission has ended, is on your head Shepard." the councilor warns, never breaking eye contact. Shepard continues to meet the councilor's gaze, unfazed,

"And I shall willingly face the consequences of my actions, councilor." he states with conviction, earning a nod of perhaps, respect from the turian,

"As long as you are aware of that Shepard, the mission is yours to complete as you see fit. We await your next report commander." the asari councilor affirms before the transmission is cut, and finally Shepard let himself sigh, hoping he made the right choice in recruiting Krosis.

Down on the Engineering Deck Krosis is trying to familiarize himself with a type of weapon he's never used before, guns, though, as there was no firing range on the Normandy nor any safe area for target practice, it was a slow process. "Ugh, none of these guns are useful to me." the thief cries out in exasperation, getting a groan of annoyance from the quartermaster at having to deal with the ship's newest crew member as well as one from Krisaph,

**'Must you be so picky? You were only going to choose a gun to get Shepard off your back.'** she reminds Krosis, tired of his complaining, sadly only hearing a snort in return,

_'If I must have a gun I am damn well going to at least have THAT choice be of my preference'_ he retorts, not willing to have a gun he will literally have no use for, "The pistol, not enough stopping power! The shotgun is better, but if I'm that close I might as well use my daggers and not expose my position! The assault rifle is for extended firefights, something I don't intend to allow!" Krosis lists off, gritting his teeth and getting more and more perturbed at the lack of choices befitting his profession,

"What about a sniper rifle." comes the experienced, gruff voice of Wrex gaining Krosis', getting up from his position and heading towards the two, seeking to end the thief's tirade of complaints, "It has a very high stopping power, an immense range, and is highly accurate." the krogan lists, Krosis getting more interested as the battlemaster goes on, "It would also allow you to drop a few enemies before the fight begins or you're anywhere near close enough to use those knives of yours." he informs Krosis, having had many experiences with sniper rifles, on both sides of the scope, Krosis hums, a finger around the chin of his mask, he then turns to the quartermaster

"Give me that." he simply states, the quartermaster doing so, if only to be rid of the thief, said thief quickly grabs the rifle from the quartermaster, immediately extending it and looking down the scope, noticing the weight as he does so, "Hmm, it's weight could be a hindrance." he mutters more to himself, Wrex grunts at this relatively minor complaint,

"That's a trade-off for its benefits." he points out, Krosis sighs,

"Ah well, it's better than the other ones." he acquiesces, proceeding to try, and fail to get the gun to fold in on itself, "Uhm, how do I get this to go back to the way it was?" he asks sheepishly, embarrassed at his inexperience showing, the quartermaster sighs, his hand covering his face, wanting to be done with this,

"Just release your grip on the handle." he explains quickly, Krosis following his instruction, the gun automatically folds back into its previous position, Wrex, seeing the problem solved, turns and walks back to his usual spot,

"Now, you've made your choice, now go put it in one of the empty lockers, in case you haven't noticed, we don't carry our guns around the ship." he informs in his same, blunt tone. Krosis does so, moving to the lockers, makes his choice quickly and stores his gun, avoiding any interaction with Ashley, as he can tell she obviously doesn't trust him or wants to talk with him. The gun safe, Krosis quickly makes his way to the elevator, noticing Garrus staring at him, as if trying to remember something, before quickly looking away, Krosis ignores this as he enters the elevator, presses the button and waits patiently for the thing to move up one floor.

Reaching the Crew Deck, Krosis quickly walks out of the elevator, going around it and straight to the dining table, taking a seat and fetching a small device from his satchel, his hand brushing past Azura's Star warmly glowing with power, laying the compact white and blue item in front of him, pressing a miniscule butting on its side. As the button is depressed a blank hologram projects from a slot in the bottom, shining with a white hue unlike most other holograms, and is of a much more defined detail, displaying a texture reminiscent of paper, as the hologram is projected a pen extends from a slot in the side of the device, Krosis quickly plucks the pen from its confines, taking it in his left hand and swiftly begins to sketch the bare bones of an image, the picture taking the form of a subterranean city, looking lost to the dusts of time. As he continues to draw, he hears a groan from Krisaph, **'Don't tell me that even after ten years away from Tamriel you're still looking to chase after that city?'** she inquires in annoyance, having learned of this dream of his not long after they were bound together, Krosis gives a humorless chuckle,

_'Well I have already accomplished dreams of being a master thief, and conquering the test of time, the only one left is to plunder the legendary ruins of Mzngthand.'_ he points out, noting to himself that he has to come up with more dreams to fulfill, lest he become bored. The two end the conversation there, Krosis continuing to sketch and Krisaph content to admire his handiwork, the scene much the same over the next few minutes, with the occasional crew member taking a second to admire the drawing, until Garrus all of a sudden appears right next to Krosis, startling the thief,

"Now I remember you, I knew I've seen your mask before." Garrus proclaims almost accusingly, pointing a finger at Krosis, only offering a confused glance in return,

"Um, have we met before?" Krosis asks, aware that it was possible, considering his, experiences with turians,

"Yes, remember? I was, apparently, the only officer in C-Sec to have ever catch you pickpocketing and almost manage to chase you down." Garrus reminds Krosis, clearly not remembering the chase fondly, catching the attention of a one of the engineers who came up for a snack,

"Really, you two have met before?" she asks, though it was more a statement than a question, taking a seat next to Krosis, who notices a Daedric pendant around her neck and files that away for later,

"It was a, less than pleasant meeting." Garrus entails, giving a pointed look to Krosis who only chuckles,

"Oh don't tell me you didn't enjoy the adrenaline rush of the chase," he remarks, remembering the chase more fondly than Garrus, "even if you didn't catch me in the end." he finishes with a shrug. The engineer giving out a short laugh with an amused grin,

"Well, why don't you regale your first meeting Garrus?" she suggests, "It sounds like a good one." she comments, finding a chance to learn more about the ship's newest member too good to miss. Garrus sighs,

"I guess it wouldn't hurt." he concedes, "It was six years ago, I was just another officer of the law, if a little, resistant towards policy..."

It was another day on patrol, stopping the occasional bar brawl and a few rebellious teenagers, nothing too interesting, when lo and behold I see our resident thief while patrolling in the Presidium just walking down the street, clad in the same attire as he is now. I couldn't help but stare at him, after all, how many people do you see in that attire, or with a tail? He obviously didn't notice my attention centered on him because, not a few seconds after I began watching him, he stealthily walks by an asari, talking with a salarian, and slips the ruby ring off her finger, and just walks away! I don't know how neither her nor the salarian noticed, but I immediately took action, beginning my pursuit, and reporting in, "C-Sec this is officer Vakarian. Over."

"Roger, this is C-Sec, go ahead Vakarian." C-Sec replies immediately, I, still in pursuit of Krosis, respond,

"We have a pickpocket in the Presidium, currently in pursuit. Over." I was still focused on Krosis, quickly closing in when he seemed to notice me following him, and picks up his pace, I do the same, and each of us kept increasing our pace after the other until we were running, full pelt, down the Presidium, dodging civilians. Knowing that I had obviously lost the element of surprise, I yell out, "Freeze! You're under arrest!" that never really gets suspects to stop, but it certainly got the civilians' attention, the crowd disperses to allow the chase to proceed unhindered. And we continued our chase, Krosis trying to shake me by climbing randomly between floors, ducking and weaving through the crowds of people, but I was able to keep up with him. Until the chase was taken down to the lower wards, the crowds were no longer a problem, but that didn't make it any easier, and I was getting tired, hell, we already ran a few miles around the Presidium, but, I knew this area, and knew that we were coming up on a corner, where his only choice would be to go through C-Sec or jump off of the balcony, I thought that I finally had him. Imagine my surprise when he proceeds to jump off of the balcony! I quickly run up to the guardrail and look out just in time to see Krosis jump up right in front of me, and continue to run up the flat walls of the wards.

Well I still didn't give up the chase, in fact, seeing that made me more determined, and I commandeered one of the public transports docked in the wards and flew it up, scanning the walls of the wards, just barely catching Krosis entering the balcony of another floor, I hurriedly land and jump out, resuming the pursuit, the floor we were on being absent of any civilians, bounding after Krosis, catching sight of his tail going a around a corner, rounding the corner I see him waiting for me, arms propping himself on his knees, looking just as tired as I felt, but I still brought up my gun, "You're under arrest!" hearing my proclamation he moved his gaze to look at me, groaning as soon as he saw me, and shouts,

"Come on! I just want to go home and count my loot!" he then threw his hands up in the air in an overly dramatic fashion, "Alright! That's it! I'm through playing somewhat fairly!" after his declaration, a green glow emitted from his right hand, I kept my gun trained on him, expecting many things in that moment but not what happened next, as soon as the light flashed he turned invisible! My mouth hung open and I couldn't help but lower my gun. I stood there for a good minute before I noticed that my rifle was stolen right from my hands, my hands balled into fists and shook, that was the last straw, I then let out a grand cry containing all of the frustration, exhaustion, and anger I developed over the course of the day, breathing heavily afterwords and trying to catch my breath, before heading back to base, swearing I could hear snickering just outside of my range of hearing.

It was only after the tale ends that Garrus notices the crowd his story gathered, Tali, Liara, Kaiden, Ashley, and even Wrex and a few more crew members, all sitting at the table, all intently listening to the story, each with their own reaction, some, like Tali, Kaiden, and Ashley were mildly humored by Krosis' actions in the end of the story, and others, Wrex and Liara for example, were quiet, going over every detail in their heads, figuring out as much as they could of the ship's resident thief. The engineer, whom originally prompted the telling of the story, clears her throat, gaining Garrus' attention, "Well? What did you tell your superior officer?" she inquires, curious as to what happened after the story, Garrus scratches the back of his head, the next part being the reason he did not remember the chase as fondly as Krosis did,

"Well, what could I tell my superior? I told them the truth." he begins, looking around the table and seeing that many flinch a bit knowing how bad that could turn out. Garrus takes in a deep breath, "He thought that I was crazy!" he recalls with a humorless chuckle, "I had to go through six psych evaluations and three months of enforced therapy just to prove I wasn't!" he proclaims loudly, remembering those three months vividly, as well as the ridicule by other C-Sec officers afterward, Garrus then hears a chortle from Krosis,

"If it's any consolation Garrus, you are the only turian to have ever chase me down and force me to use a spell on your own." the thief offers as some form of compensation, but before Garrus can respond a voice chimes in over the intercom, "Would Krosis report to the medical bay?" the voice of Dr. Chakwas states more than asks, Krosis sighs and quickly gets up from the table, forgetting his sketchpad and quickly makes his way to the Med-Bay.

Upon entering he sees Dr. Chakwas typing something on the computer, her back to him, gaining a mischievous grin he silently walks over, stopping just behind her, taking a moment to scan his eyes over what she was typing, he sees his "adopted" name Krosis adorning the top of what appears to be a medical report. Choosing to ignore that he shifts his gaze back down to Dr. Chakwas, and with incredible speed he hangs his head over her sitting form and quickly into her view, upside-down,

"Hi." he says simply, holding in his laughter as she slightly jumps and her eyes bulging, he then steps back, grinning impishly as she tries to still her pounding heart. After shaking that off Dr. Chakwas, turning to see that her patient was the culprit, clears her throat, trying to retain an image of professionalism,

"Hello to you to, Krosis. For the sake of time I'm to ignore your stunt." she offers giving a slight glare to Krosis, who shows not the slightest care about her irritation, "Now, as with everyone else aboard the Normandy, you're going to have to undergo a standard medical examination to ensure your health." she explains, seeing Krosis offer a slight nod she continues, "Yes, well, first is the basic information, since I don't know what species you are, you'll need to help me fill in the blanks." she informs, Krosis only reluctantly nodding this time,

_'What should I tell her Krisaph?' _he asks of the Daedra, hearing a hum from her,

**'You should be able to tell her the basics without a revealing any weaknesses, and if they are somehow able to decipher Nirn's location from your answers, well, you really only have one friend to worry about on the planet.'** she offers as her own opinion of events, should they come to pass. Hearing this brings to mind his dunmer friend, the one person in the whole of Tamriel that he actually trusted wholeheartedly. Ignoring Krosis' silence Dr. Chakwas turns back to the computer to proceed with the questions,

"Firstly, your species?" she queries with interest, curious to the answer as she had never seen any other species in the galaxy like Krosis,

"Argonian." he declares simply, trying not to dwell on the possible consequences of trusting this doctor and by extension Shepard. Dr. Chakwas raises an eyebrow but doesn't turn away from her computer,

"Hmm, Homeworld?" she asks, hoping that the answer will be a name she recognizes,

"Nirn." he declares in the same tone as before and just as before, ignores Dr. Chakwas' raised eyebrow. Deciding to investigate further into Krosis answer she turns to look at him directly,

"And why haven't I heard of this planet?" she inquires, entertaining the idea that he's making up his answers, Krosis merely shrugs believing that replying honestly shouldn't cause many problems for him,

"Most likely because Nirn's level of technology is centuries away from allowing anyone to get outside of the planet's atmosphere." he answers, retaining his no-nonsense tone, allowing a small snicker on the inside at seeing Dr. Chakwas' mouth fall open and her eyes widen. Retaking her composure Dr. Chakwas feels the need to confirm what she just heard,

"So, you're from a pre-spaceflight civilization." she states, upon receiving a nod she turns back to the computer to add that little fact to the report, and looks back to Krosis, "Would you care to explain how you came to leave the planet?" she queries since such a thing was, obviously, unusual,

"After a fight that left me near-death I was abducted by salarian scientists who had observed my, unique abilities, and wanted me for study after they healed me." he describes, recalling why he was abducted, Dr. Chakwas nods, knowing that an individual as unique as Krosis makes quite a tempting subject for study, but that still doesn't explain why Nirn isn't documented, as, even under threat of arrest for interference with a Type-0 civilization, the average scientist would share their findings with their colleagues,

"And what happened to the scientists?" she inquires with apprehension, feeling as though she wouldn't like the answer. Krosis settles a cold gaze upon her,

"Dead, in my panic at seeing so many new things I went into a sort of "kill or be killed" mode, and used my skills to slaughter everyone aboard." the thief recounts, not a single hint of emotion or regret in his voice, the doctor finding it to be a disturbing contrast from the tone she witnessed in the mess hall before calling him in and idly wonders if Krosis suffers from a mental disorder. But, pushing those thoughts aside for later contemplation, she gives a sad nod,

"An unfortunate but not uncommon end for those who interfere with peoples not ready for our level of technology" she remarks, eyes looking towards the ground, it was true, and part of the reason any meddling with pre-spaceflight societies was illegal, the Krogan Rebellions being an extreme example of what could go wrong. Shaking those thoughts away she refocuses her gaze on Krosis, "Moving on from those darker thoughts, can you give me a basic summary of your species for me to catalogue." she offers, trying to steer the mood to a lighter place, the thief nods previously aware that this part was unavoidable, and that most people are uncomfortable killing or talking about killing, not him, but she didn't need to know that.

"My people hail from Black Marsh, a huge swamp, rife with disease and poisons, and as such have evolved to be immune to all poisons and have a very strong immune system," he freely describes in a somewhat proud tone, alleviating the previous, darker, mood, "we can also breath easily in and out of water, and are naturals at sneaking and picking locks." he finishes, unexpectedly getting a small laugh from Dr. Chakwas,

"An obsolete art form in a world of keypad locks and fingerprint scanners." she comments with amusement, getting Krosis to let out a sheepish grin, invisible under the mask, and scratch the back of his head,

"Unfortunately, I do miss the subtle art." he admits, a little unsure as to why he is beginning to so easily trust another person he just met.

"That aside, I'll need you to strip down for the physical examination." she informs him, but upon catching his discomfort in doing so, she chooses to assuage his worry, "Don't worry, I promise you that we're the only two who will know, there aren't even cameras in here." she attempts to comfort, her efforts proving successful as Krosis starts to undress, oddly abstaining from removing his mask and hood. Soon, ignoring the mask, hood and underwear, he was naked, Dr. Chakwas taking note of his species' apparent evolution from reptiles, though, she sighs, no matter how uncomfortable it may make him, she can't proceed with the mask and hood still in the way, "Krosis, I can't perform the examination with that helmet and mask in the way..." she points out, indirectly telling him to remove them. For a good minute Krosis simply stands there, unmoving, as if debating with himself on the removal of the two articles of clothing, before nodding,

"Very well, doctor." he finally consents, any lightheartedness from before now absent, Chakwas grimaces to herself,

_ 'So much for patient comfort.' _she remarks to herself, before carefully watching Krosis remove the mask and hood with the utmost care, _'Must be important to him.' _she mentally infers, making a note to herself to relay Krosis' near reverence for his mask to Shepard, refocusing her attention on Krosis she traces her eyes over every detail being revealed, Krosis finally disrobe his hood and mask, his face being exposed to the light for the first time since, since, he widens his eyes, since he first fished it off of the corpse of the Dragon Priest, had he really been wearing it that long?

**'Yes it has,' **comes the ever present honesty of Krisaph, **'in fact, if I hadn't scanned you're memories, I would only just now know what you look like under that mask.' **she grumbles, pouting with her arms crossed, ignoring Krisaph, Krosis looks to Chakwas with a questioning look,

"Now, just sit over there." she orders in a professional tone, gesturing to the rather uncomfortable looking metal beds, but Krosis just shrugs and does as told, if he can sleep in those solid stone dwemer beds, he can tolerate sitting a metal table for the duration of a medical examination.

After the examination was complete, Chakwas divining Krosis health to the best of her abilities, we see come to the scene of Krosis almost fully dressed, with the exception of the krosis mask, just now securing his gloves, "Well, as far as I can tell, you're perfectly healthy, no sicknesses or pre-existing conditions, except," she lists off, "the scans indicate that you're digestive tract holds no food whatsoever, nor signs of food having been digested for quite some time," she informs confusion present in her tone, "but you show no signs of dehydration or malnutrition." she finishes even more baffled, she's never come across a species that has a digestive tract but suffers no ill effects from not eating or drinking, Krosis, for his part, shrugs,

"Let's just say I've found a way to replenish my energy without physical sustenance." he dodges answering Chakwas' unspoken question, "If I come to trust this crew enough, I may tell you." he offers cheekily before moving to adorn his mask and hood once more, though the sound of the med-bay door opening catches his attention, shifting his gaze he looks toward the door,

"Dr. Chakwas can I go back to the storage room." comes the voice of one Liara T'Soni entering the med-bay, the instant the door opens her eyes lock onto Krosis head, analyzing each detail, from the long, white twin horns extending from the back of his head to his black protruding snout and pale red, slit eyes. Acting on reflex, Krosis quickly casts an invisibility spell and fastens on his mask and hood, dispelling the invisibility afterword, unaware of the medical equipment in the room documenting the use of the spell, turning to Chakwas he nods,

"If we're done here, I'll be on Engineering." he quietly informs them before swiftly making his way to the elevator, noticing Liara not averting her curious gaze from his form the entire way to the elevator and giving more than one wary look towards his daggers.

Only after the elevator door closes does Liara blink before realizing what she was doing and blushing madly in embarrassment, and turning back to Dr. Chakwas with an apologetic look, "Dr. Chakwas! I'm sorry I just thought you two were finished..." she was about to continue but halts when Chakwas brings up a hand, gesturing for her to stop,

"It's fine Liara, we were finished, you only caught him redressing himself." she comforts Liara, knowing how easily the girl could get embarrassed, Liara can only manage a nod before quickly walking into the storage room to do some research on the commander, and, after her most recent experience, Krosis.

In the engineering deck Krosis, was lazily sitting against a wall, legs crossed, in the back, almost seeming to be one with the shadows, if not for the dull reflection of light bouncing from his mask, currently conversing with Krisaph, **'Oh come on you should take off your mask more often, at least when not out stealing.' **she tries to persuade, proceeding to gain a devious smirk, **'You'll certainly get more women to look at you like that T'Soni did.' **she remarks enjoying Krosis' slightly flustered look,

_'I'm a thief! I should be avoiding attention, not arousing it!' _he bellows before chuckling and offering a smirk of his own, _'Besides, I thought you claimed me for yourself a few years ago.' _he reminds her with amusement, recalling that particular conversation quite vividly, earning a sadistic grin from Krisaph,

**'And you're still mine,' **she affirms nodding, **'but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy seeing other females lust after what they can never have.' **she finishes insidiously, causing Krosis to groan at having those memories brought back to mind, being recognized as the "Messiah" of the Daedric cults got more than a few of the females willing to spread their legs for him on a whim, despite and perhaps indeed because they didn't know what he looked like under his mask, something Krosis found disturbing, while Krisaph merely found it hilarious, laughing harder depending how smitten the female in question was, before the two can continue their argument, Garrus approaches Krosis, spotting his mask's dull reflection in the, holding the thief's sketchpad in his grip,

"Are you trying to look that creepy or does it just come naturally." Garrus opens with a joke, earning a small chuckle for his efforts,

"Merely a lot of experience messing with people." Krosis replies with a grin, he's starting to like Garrus, even if the turian is on the other side of the law, "Come to finally make your arrest for that stolen ring." he inquires jokingly, and hears a slight laugh from Garrus,

"No, even if I wanted to, C-Sec would need proof, and I don't suppose you'd be willing to put on a demonstration for them?" the C-Sec officer jokes back, getting a negative from the master thief,

"You'll have try harder than that to get me behind bars." he denies, "But joking aside why did you come to talk to me?" he queries, a tilt to his head,

"Well, you left this in the mess hall."Garrus explains while offer the sketchpad to Krosis, who upon seeing the device quickly accepts the return of the sketchpad, looking back to Garrus,

"Thank you, Garrus." Krosis thanks somewhat awkwardly at the unexpected favor, deciding that, so far, Garrus had made the best impression out of the rest of the ship's crew,

"No problem," Garrus waves off the gratitude, "but, what is Mzngthand?" he asks curiously, just barely noticing Krosis stiffen in the darkness, in the thief's mind he debates with himself over his answer,

"I won't tell you everything, but I will tell you this, Mzngthand, is an ancient, lost, nigh legendary city of the lost Dwemer race." he describes, the same excitement and wonder he's for the city since his youth in his voice,

"Sounds like quite the city." Garrus admits with a chuckle, finding that bearing witness to such child-like wonder is a relieving thing to see when on a mission to save the galaxy. His good deed for the day done he turns to go back to the MAKO, "Remember Krosis, were stuck saving the galaxy together, we might as well trust each other while doing it." with that last statement he walks back to the MAKO. Krosis nods, albeit reluctantly, finding Garrus' view to be true, if a bit naïve, looking at the inactive sketchpad, brings to mind another thing he forgot, the engineer with the Daedric pendant, storing the device in his satchel he rises from his spot in the shadows, and moves to find that engineer.

Krosis looked all over the Normandy, eventually finding the engineer he sought by sight of her read hair, and tan skin, eating in the mess hall, eating dinner by herself, approaching her silently and ensuring no one would hear their conversation, he taps her on the shoulder,

"Excuse me," he addresses softly, getting her attention, "where did you get that pendant?" he questions with a hard tone, she turns to him, narrowing her eyes,

"Who wants to know?" she questions, as a secret phrase for Daedra worshipers to identify one another depending on the response, Krosis swiftly reaches into his satchel and pulls out an obsidian chain necklace bearing a pendant adorned with the Daedric symbol for M, the symbol he adopted to identify him as their messiah,

"Your Messiah." he quietly announces in a no nonsense tone of voice, immediately getting a shocked gasp from the engineer, who hurriedly offers a bow of her head.

"Messiah! Forgive me! I had no idea who you were earlier!" she quickly apologizes, causing Krosis to sigh, this type of behavior was part of the reason why he doesn't still manage the Daedric cults so closely, too many servants and not enough equals, makes it harder to blend in,

"Rise," he orders, seeing her do so he shakes his finger in front of her, "please, don't treat me like that," he requests, receiving a confused nod in return, "Now, which Prince do you serve?" he inquires, as this will determine what kind of person the engineer is,

"I am a servant of lord Jyggalag, the Prince of Order." she proclaims with a hint of pride in her voice, Krosis nods, a fitting prince for those in an organized military especially those who ensure everything works properly, no doubt Jyggalag had a hand in getting her a position on such an advanced ship,

"And does the crew know of you religious beliefs?" Krosis asks, indirectly asking if he could trust the crew more easily, something she didn't catch on,

"Oh yes, it's a requirement for your superiors to know your faith," she comments, a smile creeps onto her face, "the crew knows and, while not jumping into worship themselves, don't discriminate against me, in fact some of the friends I've made have said that they would look into Daedra worship as well." she recalls, her eyes closed in bliss, at the fond memories. Krosis let's a smile spread over his face, it is nice to see this society to treat his fellow worshipers fairly rather than the "witchhunts" they suffer through in Tamriel, he taps his chin in thought, perhaps he should bring some his fellow Daedra worshipers into galactic society, it would certainly be interesting to see the reactions of both sides. Shaking those thoughts away he looks back to the engineer,

"What is your name?" he calmly asks,

"Chelsea, my Messiah" she answers, head still bowed,

"Well, Chelsea, that is all I wanted to know," he informs her, gesturing for her to rise, "don't tell anyone of this conversation, or my affiliations, understand?" he orders calmly, she nods

"Yes, my Messiah, are you going to tell any one of the crew members?" she asks curiously in return, receiving a nod from Krosis,

"I will tell a few, but only when they prove trustworthy enough for such information." he explains to her, Garrus already having made good progress to that goal, even if he doesn't know it. With that they nod to each other in farewell, her going back to her now cold dinner, and him heading to Engineering to continue his sketches.

Meanwhile in the Medical Bay, Chakwas had called in Shepard to discuss with him the results of Krosis' medical tests, "So, Dr. Chakwas, what have you found out about our newest crew member?" the commander questions wanting to know more about the thief,

"Well, Shepard, as for as I can tell, he's perfectly healthy." she states, and waits for Shepard to ask a more specific question,

"Do you know what planet he's from?" he inquires, hoping that he can something about Krosis, though Dr. Chakwas only shakes her head,

"Apparently, he's from a pre-spaceflight civilization on a planet he calls Nirn." she explains, already expecting Shepard's widened eyes and chooses to answer the unspoken question, "He was abducted by salarian scientists who were observing his unique abilities and, after healing him from a near-death state, wanted to study him." she describes sadly, recalling the fates of the scientists, something Shepard picks up on,

"And the scientists?" he asks, not expecting anything good, Dr. Chakwas grimaces,

"Dead, from what Krosis says, he went into a panic mode upon seeing our technology and devolved into a primal state of kill or be killed and proceeded to end the life of everyone aboard." she describes glumly, Shepard nods sadly, aware of the risks of abducting lifeforms,

"Anything else?" he queries, still wanting more to go on with the thief,

"Just two things," Dr. Chakwas begins, "First is his mask, he handles it with the utmost care and reverence, the reason for this can range anywhere from his culture placing a high value on masks to the mask simply a gift from a loved one, in any case don't try to force him to remove the mask, for all we know it could offend him enough to abandon your deal, regardless of the consequences." she describes in-depth, Shepard nods since knowing that could prevent a severe mistake on his part in the future, and gestures for Dr. Chakwas to continue, "Second is his digestive system, there is nothing wrong with the system itself, it's just that it no food or water in it, nor did it show signs of having digested either in quite some time." she explains, just as baffled now as she was before, Shepard sharing her confusion,

"At least how long has his body gone with food or water?" he asks confused,

"At least a few weeks, but that's the thing, despite the lack of intake, his body still works fine, no signs of malnutrition or dehydration at all." she remarks still confounded. Shepard widens his eyes, Krosis hadn't eaten for at least two weeks! And he was still able to do all he'd done on Ilium,

"So how is his body doing this?" he feels compelled to ask,

"I don't know, when I asked him he simply said, "Let's just say I've found a way to replenish my energy without physical sustenance."" she quotes, gaining a sigh from Shepard,

"He just has to be so mysterious doesn't he." he states, starting to get annoyed at Krosis' secrecy,

"He probably just doesn't trust us commander, it is only his first day aboard," Dr. Chakwas begins, offering her own opinion, "give him time, he'll come to trust us." she offers before smiling, "Besides, he already seems to be making a fast friend with Garrus." she informs Shepard with a laugh, getting a chuckle in return,

"The thief and the C-Sec officer, certainly not what I expected, but, then again, it seems that many things don't go the way one expects with Krosis." he comments humorously, pleased that at least someone seems to be making progress with the thief.

Hours later comes Krosis' first "night" on the Normandy as it still had quite a ways to go to get to Noveria, the lights of the ship dimmed, only the crew necessary to keep the ship running still at their stations, Krosis is just entering a pod in the far corner of the sleeping area, still fully clothed as always, closing the pod with tired eyes and quickly falling asleep as the pods lowers into its occupied position.

In his sleep he comes to what he's come to call his mental realm, a place he is brought to nearly every night to commune with Krisaph on a more personal level. The realm itself looks like what many would call a physical impossibility, on one side resides endless oceans of bubbling magma, the only land being a massive stone palace, intricately decorated with the likenesses of Daedra, most commonly the Princes, Daedric sigils adorning every inch of the structure, spider webs engulf every crevice, more than a few web sacs denoting the fates of prey inside, a single tower that could scratch the moon proudly standing from the center of the palace, the top housing an altar from which any of the Daedric Princes could be summoned, the structure's only connection to the border in his mind being a decorative land bridge, covered by a complicated canopy allowing a view both in and out of the bridge On the other side of Krosis' mental realm is almost the opposite, a vast swampland, an imitation of every argonian's homeland, Black Marsh, though with his own changes of course, for one, the many predators would not dare harm him, treating him with respect and, rarely, affection, the diseases no longer present, and the entire land absent of any other argonian. Beyond the swamps, the frozen peaks of Skryim are visible, the almost imperceptible silhouettes of dragons he's absorbed can be seen flying through the skies, hunting for prey. As he had felt the complete and utter destruction of a dragon's soul was unnecessary, and he thought they were looked cool.

**"Well well, my Twin-Headed Serpent, come to visit me so soon?"** comes the ever heavenly voice of Krisaph, just leaving the entrance of the bridge to her palace, Krosis quickly moving his gaze towards her, takes note of how much more detail he can see of her in this realm, taking in her shining, white hair, soft cream skin, and large, smooth, black and red, heavily armored, eight-legged carapace,

"Hello Krisaph, miss being able to hug me like a plushie already?" he cheekily answers her question with another question, only getting a roll of the eyes and a smirk for his efforts,

**"Like the plague."** she jokingly remarks, approaching Krosis and does indeed crush him with a hug, letting him down after a few moments. Though she lost her smile and kind attitude, **"I wanted to talk with you about something," **she begins, her tone serious, Krosis wisely choosing not to joke, **"why did you accept Shepard's offer?" **she asks looking him in the eyes, **"We both know you could have easily gotten away, so why?" **she inquires, showing a rare moment of true confusion, Krosis sighs knowing that he had to be serious with his answer,

"I'm helping because when I looked in his eyes and heard about his mission, I knew he was like me," he explains seriously, gaining a raised eyebrow from Krisaph, "not morally of course, but Shepard is someone who's going to save everyone from destruction, and hell, I already saved one world, might as well help save the galaxy." he tells her, a snort of amusement coming from Krisaph at how lightly he treats saving the galaxy, "And if my deal with Shepard gets me enough money to go after Mzngthand, all the better." he quickly adds, hearing a groan from Krisaph,

**"You're just not going to leave that city alone are you?"** she questions, already knowing the answer,

"Nope." the thief happily responds, looking at Krisaph seriously once more, "Anything else?" he questions, getting a negative from her, but shortly after her slowly widen into a sadistic grin, looking far more intimidating in person,

**"My Twin-Headed Serpent?"** she asks in a sickly sweet voice, Krosis locks his eyes upon her,

"Yes?" he inquires tentatively, not liking her tone,

**"Do you want to play a game?"** she questions, her sweet tone making Krosis nervous, he eyes her warily,

"What kind of game?" he asks apprehensively, knowing that when Krisaph wanted to play a game it was either very good or very bad for him, Krisaph lets out a sadistic giggle,

**"Oh just a game of, Tag." **she proclaims with a sinister edge, thoroughly enjoying Krosis' terrified look as he slowly begins to back away,

"I don't suppose I can't just say no?" he asks, not wanting to go through another round of Krisaph's demented version of tag where the goal for her was: To blow off at least one of Krosis' limbs, and the goal for Krosis was: Survive until you wake up, though Krosis nor Krisaph could actually be damaged in the mental realm, damn if it didn't feel like it.

**"Nope."** she chirps just as he did earlier, and with that the deadly game of tag begins.

"TIID KLO UL!" he shouts almost desperately as he begins to sprint in the marshes, freezing Krisaph in place just as she sends out a bolt of lightening, only returning to normal after Krosis is long gone, but she wasn't mad in the slightest merely allowing a vicious smirk to spread across her face,

**"You can run but can't hide, my Twin-Headed Serpent."** she remarks sadistically before summoning of the imaginary younglings from her palace, Krisaph looking down at the tiny little thing as she arrives, **"Young one, go, and find your 'father.'" **she orders with a gentle smile, the little Spider Daedra running off, yelling about finding her "daddy," Krisaph gives out an amused smile, Krosis thought the younglings were cute until he learned that they explode when they touch him. It was her own special surprise for him, shaking those memories away, she begins to bound after the youngling.

Meanwhile, Krosis is sprinting as fast as he can manage through the swamps, idly wondering what tactic Krisaph chose to use in finding him this time, last time she flooded the swamps with lava, his thoughts are brought to an end by the sound of distant shouts, a distinct present in all of them, "daddy,"he widens his eyes and picks up the pace, he remembered those little devils, exploding in a fiery blaze whenever he touched them, what's worse is that they were faster than him and somehow always knew where he was, making hiding a moot point, now his only choice is to run, just run and hope he can evade the little demon and Krisaph until he wakes up. The chase continues for an hour, the calls of "daddy" getting closer and closer with each passing minute, Krosis' heart is pounding from the potent combination of exercise and pure terror, it is now Krosis has crossed the swamps, coming to the foot of one of the many mountains of his mind, a gentle slope ahead allowing an easier method up the mountain, though Krosis ignores that in favor of the sheer cliff wall, wasting no time he casts Wall Walk and begins to run up the cliff, looking back just in time to see Krisaph and the little demon exiting the swamps after him, Krisaph quickly gaining a sadistic grin upon spotting him and uses her spider legs to climb up the wall after him. Krosis does his best to leave them behind but just can't manage to, coming upon the cliff's edge and making his way past it, hurriedly taking cover behind a rock as Krisaph takes a pot shot at him just combing over the edge herself, the youngling not far behind. Thinking of a plan quickly he casts his Clone spell, making as many as he could and has them, along with himself, jump out of cover simultaneously, trying to seek safety in numbers and subtly make his escape in the chaos. Sadly Krisaph already renders his plan moot with a barrage of fireballs, each exploding on contact and making quick work of the clone distractions while the youngling simply stands by Krisaph, giggling like the insane little demon she was, Krosis, not being a summoned clone and, therefore, having self-preservation instinct, jumps away from the blasts, unintentionally signaling the youngling to jump after him. Widening his eyes at Krisaph's plan he tries to think of a way to dodge, not being able to find one, being stuck in the air, the little demon comes within a foot's range, almost making that oh so deadly touch,

"FEIM ZI GRON!" with that desperate shout Krosis becomes ethereal, sighing with relief as the almost cutely confused youngling fazes through him, and they both safely land on the ground, Krosis returns to his normal form and quickly sprints toward the cliff edge, planning to jump off and figure out a safe way to land on the way down. His plan is interrupted when Krisaph appears in front of him, throws off his mask, grips the back of his head and plants a passionate kiss upon his lips, bringing his mind to an absolute halt as she continues the kiss, her tongue playing with his sharp teeth, a moment later she slowly pulls away, a sensual look in her eyes.

**"Now little one!"** she shouts, all pretense of romance immediately shattered as she jumps back, and Krosis can only manage to stand there, his thought process still broken,

"Huh?" being the only word he can produce as the youngling jumps at him from behind, arms open for a death hug, giggling madly,

**"Hee hee! I go BOOM!"** she happily proclaims and proceeds to lock her arms around Krosis and explodes in a massive fireball engulfing the cliff, Krisaph having gotten out of range earlier, cackling insanely as she did so.

Back on the Normandy Krosis awakes with a start, sweat pouring down his covered face, the phantom pains of exploding still fresh in his mind, he looks at the pod's internal clock and seeing that it read 12:37, groaning he deactivates the pod, feeling it lift back up, and opens the door to leave, "I think I'll go draw for the rest of the night, yes, draw." he wearily remarks, drowsily making his way to engineering, pointedly ignoring Krisaph's laughter as he did so.

(A/N: Please note that I'm not sure if the chapter uploaded correctly as the word count from my word processor to FF don't match, so tell me if there are parts that seem missing.)


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